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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30147126">Prologue: Find Mark Lee</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueboyjohnny/pseuds/blueboyjohnny'>blueboyjohnny</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>what makes a villain [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Quirks (My Hero Academia), Gen, Mark Lee (NCT)-centric</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-04-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:46:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,221</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30147126</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueboyjohnny/pseuds/blueboyjohnny</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This may feel like the beginning but it's years in the making, or something like that, Mark really doesn't know what's going on.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>NCT Ensemble &amp; NCT Ensemble</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>what makes a villain [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2269007</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Challenge #6 — In Another Life</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Prologue: Find Mark Lee</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>you don't need much understanding for the bnha universe to understand what's going on. but a little preface ig UA is the high school in the anime that the kids go to, quirks are like superpowers, and there's huge tension about what it means to be a hero.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A news anchor stands in front of the crime scene, with one hand gripping the mic and the other placed on her earpiece waiting for her cue to come in. A few pro heroes rush past her and onto the scene as she finally begins to speak. </p><p>“We are here near the downtown area where another, as the general public have been calling it, attack has occurred. Two victims were found tied up with a faraway look in their eyes similar to the m.o. of the attacker.” </p><p>As the anchor begins to go in depth a civilian rushes up, snatching the mic from the anchor. </p><p>“Those people had been harassing my store for months and no one was willing to help me. Not the police, not the pro-heroes, they had bigger problems but this person, this man who knew nothing about me or what I had been going through stepped in. It wasn’t an attack he saved me!” </p><p>The anchor snatches the mic back as two cops come up to drag the lady away. The anchor is frazzled and fumbles to find where she left off. She stutters into the mic hand shaking as she grips it tighter. Somebody behind the camera tells her to get it together and she fixes up quickly. </p><p>“That’s all here at the crime scene I’ll hand it back to you guys in the studio.” </p><p>Johnny snatches the remote off the table and turns the TV off. </p><p>“We need to get him before the heroes do.” Johnny says. </p><p>Donghyuck kicks his feet up, “and how are we supposed to do that? We can’t even pin him down.” </p><p>Johnny leans back into the couch with a sigh. Donghyuck takes the remote and turns the TV onto something else. They sit in silence for a few more moments before the door swings open. </p><p>“I found him,” Kun pants out before falling over. </p><p> </p><p>The restaurant had closed about 30 minutes ago, that doesn’t phase Doyoung and Taeyong who had been watching the shop since the attack three days ago. Doyoung holds the door open for Taeyong who walks in, the person they were looking for sits behind the front counter and looks up in surprise. </p><p>“I’m sorry but we’re closed,” she stops what she’s doing and stands up. </p><p>“Kim Minsook, correct?” Taeyong asks. </p><p>“Who are you?” </p><p>“Lee Taeyong,” he extends his hand for her to shake, “but you can call me Puppeteer.” </p><p>The lady gasps and leaps to take his hand. “A pro-hero!” </p><p>Taeyong smiles down at Minsook as she beams up at him. He loves being a hero, he takes pride in saving people reuniting them with their families, it was a job not anyone could do. His favorite part however is definitely the recognition, Taeyong thinks this job would be a lot harder if he didn’t have people like Minsook on his side. </p><p>“We’re sorry to interrupt you at this hour,” Doyoung speaks up, “we just have a few questions regarding the situation that occurred here not too long ago.” </p><p>Minsook looks around, the gleeful expression fades into a serious one. She stands up straight, crossing her arms, putting her guard back up. </p><p>“He sat over there,” she points to a table in the corner, “he didn’t even get to order before those rascals came in. They were making a mess of everything before he stepped in and,” she shakes her head. </p><p>She points a finger at Taeyong, “I went to your company personally and asked for help.” She takes a step closer wagging her finger, “and you said that you didn’t have any heroes that you could dispatch. Not even for a second.” </p><p>Minsook’s eyes fills with tears and Taeyong wishes he could make her understand. Heroes were busy people and they had to take care of things bigger than a little shop owner. Even if he explained himself she wouldn’t listen, civilians weren’t easy to work with when they got caught up in their selfish needs. </p><p>“I’m sorry we couldn’t have been of any help at the time.” Taeyong starts but Minsook cuts him off. “But we need your help now.”</p><p>“Get out of my shop!” Minsook begins pushing them towards the door, “you found time to come here and ask me about the mysterious man,” she pulls open the door and pushes the two of them out of it, “but not when I was being harassed, go to hell.” </p><p>She slams the door and locks it, leaving the two of them on the other side. Doyoung looks over at Taeyong who looks back over at him. Taeyong opens his mouth to say something, but Doyoung holds up his hand stopping him. Taeyong stares through the glass door and into the shop. All of the lights have been shut off and Minsook is nowhere to be found. Taeyong didn’t need ungrateful people on his side, civilians were so easy to switch up on the people that saved them just because they couldn’t be there all the time. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Donghyuck looks down at the slip of paper then back up at the address. They matched, of course they matched, Kun didn’t make mistakes especially if he was that tired out but somehow this still feels wrong. Johnny let’s put a groan from behind him before pushing him out the way. He knocks twice then rings the doorbell and takes a step back. </p><p>“Coming!” A voice calls out from the other side of the door. </p><p>The footsteps get closer before the door is swung open. Johnny wasn’t sure what he was expecting but the person on the other side of the door wasn’t it. He wasn’t very tall, he had a sweet face, and reminded Johnny of that “boy next door” troupe. </p><p>“Umm,” his eyes flicker over Johnny then Donghyuck, “I don’t wanna buy anything.”</p><p>It takes a while for Johnny to get himself back together, “good thing we’re not selling anything.”</p><p>He gives the man a lazy smile that Donghyuck liked to call sleazy. “We just want to know if you’re Mark Lee, the one that helped the restaurant owner?”</p><p>He just stares, the curious look on his face closes off, his eyes harden and he steps further out the room. With a sigh he reaches for Johnny's wrist, his slender fingers cold as they wrap around it. He reaches for Donghyuck’s wrist who snatches his arm back. His eyes turn innocent and he holds out his hand waiting for Donghyuck to take it. </p><p>Donghyuck was usually closed off to people he didn’t know very well and he wasn’t one for touch. Johnny’s surprised that Donghyuck gives in easily to the stranger’s touch. With one look over at his face it makes sense. The man’s eyes, so open and innocent, Johnny doesn’t think anyone could say no to him. Even if they didn’t know him. </p><p>Donghyuck holds out his wrist with a blush on his cheeks. As soon as his wrist touches the man’s hand they’re both being pulled forward. They’re barely a breath away from him, he smells like vanilla and something else Johnny can’t really place. </p><p>He can’t think about it for long, he can’t think about much really. His brain becomes foggy as his surroundings tilt and warp into it’s all blurred into one. The hand on his wrist keeps him grounded. </p><p>A voice calls to him, “it’s time for the two of you to go. Walk until your feet hurt and then you can rest.” </p><p>The grip on his wrist loosens and he falls deeper into the fogginess of his own mind. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The file comes in three days later. It seems the person they’re tracking down didn’t exist until Doyoung slaps down the file onto his desk. Taeyong grins quickly snatching up the files and flipping it open. Mark Lee, 21 years old, and was a student at UA High before he went mysteriously missing. Little was known about his quirk other than they were deadly. </p><p>Taeyong closes the file and looks over at Doyoung, “we have to apprehend him.” </p><p>Static from the radio catches their attention. “All heroes near district 7 please report to town center, a hero has been captured, I repeat—“</p><p>“We should go.” Taeyong says.</p><p>“That’s not our district.” </p><p>“Still,” Taeyong stands up walking over to his doll collection, “it could be Mark.”</p><p>Doyoung follows him, “we’d raise suspicion.” </p><p>“Then we’ll make up something.”</p><p> </p><p>Johnny doesn’t understand how Yuta always knows the heroes' next moves. Kun says it’s because he has an inside person and Donghyuck thinks Yuta is the inside person, they don’t ask questions they know they won’t get the answer to. So when Yuta tells them that the heroes set up someone to kidnap their target they don’t say anything.  </p><p>They find the two in a warehouse about three blocks from where Mark was staying. Yuta leads them to the back of the warehouse, they sneak in through the truck bay and up to the rafters of the building. </p><p>Yuta’s plan was simple, Donghyuck goes down first. Learning how to be sneaky and light on his feet was a must for his quirk. Johnny remembers all the work they did to get him so agile. Donghyuck sneaks up behind the hero who was occupied with his phone, mumbling something while typing aggressively. Johnny can see that excited smirk that overtakes Donghyuck’s face as he grabs onto the hero. He doesn’t have time to fight back as Donghyuck’s fangs are already piercing the skin delivering the paralyzing poison as planned. Donghyck holds him there until the body goes limp in his hold before dropping him to the ground. </p><p>Johnny jumps down and heads straight for Mark tied up in the corner. </p><p>“We need to hurry before the real pro-heroes get here.” Yuta comes down right after Johnny, pulling out his hero radio as he walks over to Donghyuck. “I threw them off our trail but who knows how long that will last.” </p><p>Mark is still knocked out on the ground, head turned down as Johnny comes closer. He looks peaceful almost as Johnny walks around behind him. Johnny’s hand morphs into a tiger paw, he uses the claws to cut away at the ropes tying Mark’s wrist together. He does the same to the one around his body. </p><p>The ropes barely fall from around Mark’s body before he’s springing up, with a swipe of his hand Johnny is sent flying backwards into the concrete wall. </p><p>“Yuta, look out!” Donghyuck yells. </p><p>Johnny’s ears are ringing, it takes a minute for him to catch his breath before the yelling comes in full force. </p><p>“We’re just trying to help you!” That’s Donghyuck’s voice. </p><p>“By kidnapping me?” That's who Johnny assumes is Mark.</p><p>“That wasn’t us,” Johnny groans out as he pushes himself off the ground.</p><p>“Obviously, look at the hero on the ground!” Donghyuck yells. </p><p>Mark looks scared, his pose is on defense with his hands extended basically telling them all to stay back. </p><p>“Why would heroes do this?” his voice shakes when he speaks. </p><p>Johnny walks around so he can get a better look at Mark, they look eyes. Mark’s eyes wide with confusion as he stares into Johnny’s.</p><p>“The heroes aren’t the good guys we were made to think they were.” Johnny says. </p><p>Mark doesn’t let his guard down, he looks around again, at the paralyzed hero, at the unamused Yuta and flustered Donghyuck before landing back on the collected Johnny. </p><p>“I don’t get it.” Mark’s defense wavers with his voice. </p><p>“It’s a lot to get,” Yuta speaks this time, “but the pros that set this up are on their way to get you, so let’s talk about this back at the base.” </p><p>Mark looks around one last time before his eyes land on Johnny again. “Who are you?”</p><p>“We can tell you when we leave but we need to get out of here,” Donghyuck sounds frantic when he speaks.</p><p>“Mark,” Yuta extends a hand to the flustered boy, “the heroes aren’t gonna let up after this. They see you as a threat and they’ll do anything to eliminate threats to their perfect society. Come with us, we promise to keep you safe.”</p><p>Johnny can hear footsteps off in the distance, “they’re closing in.”</p><p>Mark jumps pulling his defenses back up. </p><p>“Mark,” is all Yuta has to say before Mark nods. </p><p>“Okay,” he relaxes, “Okay, okay. I’ll go with you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Nothing up here,” Doyoung’s voice comes through the earpiece. </p><p>Taeyong’s puppets find nothing other than the paralyzed hero. </p><p>“The league took him,” Taeyong says. Doyoung appears out of nowhere, a habit of his. </p><p>“I don’t think they know what they’re getting into,” Taeyong says, “he’s more than a powerful quirk, he’s a threat.”</p><p>The ambulance arrives, sirens wailing and lights flashing, the paramedics rush out to help the poor hero. </p><p>“These villains don’t think. He could kill with those powers.” Doyoung could hear the distress in his voice. Doyoung only knew on the surface why this Mark kid was so important to him, his quirk made him a threat and he didn’t know how to use it.</p><p>“That’s what the league needs right now,” Doyoung stands next to Taeyong and places a hand on his shoulder. </p><p>He doesn’t mention that he saw Yuta jump through a portal from his post, Taeyong couldn’t handle that now. “A threat.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thanks for all the love check me out:<br/><a href="https://twitter.com/suhsticky">twt</a><br/><a href="https://curiouscat.qa/crtlmklee">cc</a></p><p>click my pinned for some treats!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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